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A list of lenses that have been tested on the NEX--good and bad!

douglasf13

New member
The Contax G lenses have screw drive AF, but no focus ring. The manual focus on the G camera bodies was controlled with a wheel mounted to the body. To use on NEX, adapters with focus rings are necessary. I've gotten rather used to the two that I have, and the 90/2.8 is probably about as good as any tele ever made.
 

uhoh7

New member
The Contax G lenses have screw drive AF, but no focus ring. The manual focus on the G camera bodies was controlled with a wheel mounted to the body. To use on NEX, adapters with focus rings are necessary. I've gotten rather used to the two that I have, and the 90/2.8 is probably about as good as any tele ever made.
do the focus rings actually turn the helicoil, or move the lens on the adapter?

a bit of smut:





 

uhoh7

New member
they turn the screw on the lens, which turns the helicoid.
I will learn to spell that! ty SIR


Maybe the best telephoto deal there is for the nex:

Minolta 135mm f/3.5 MD (aka rokkor-x, celitc) 270 grams, about 25USD for a mint copy.

135mm x 1.5 = 202.5mm

Add a MD to Nex adapter, 35usd max.

This is one of the lightest, smallest 135s ever made, a modern lens. Not fast, but fine in daylight. Very good coatings and a built in hood. It's a sharp lens. (not an APO lanthar--but pretty good)

They are all over ebay.





If there is an RF 135 this light I can't find it. 100, yes, the great little canon.

Ty to peekayoh over at dyxum for the tip on this one.

PS: close focus: 1.5 meters
 

uhoh7

New member
they turn the screw on the lens, which turns the helicoid.
TY sir, you are correct on the 49m filter.

I should add that both pentax and olympus have 135 f/3.5s which are similar in size and weight, so they might be a good choice if you already have one adapter or the other.
 
T

titoun

Guest
Hi everybody,

I see that you discuss about the Minolta 135mm f/3.5 MD, and you qualified it as one of the the best telephoto deal there is for the nex.

I'm gonna recover a MD TELE ROKKOR MINOLTA 1:2.8 135mm from my father, would like to know how good is this lense ? I also gonna recover a SOLIGOR WIDE-AUTO 2.8 28mm, how good is this one?

Other lense i tested with my sony NEX-3:
- Super Takumar 55mm f2 -> love it! the boked is really smooth (gonna post some picture as soon as possible)

- Carl Zeiss Jena 1,8 50mm M42 -> i received it three days ago from ebay, i just took some shoots quickly, seems nice .

thx !
 

uhoh7

New member
In testing at f/5.6 against the well-regarded oly 135 f/2.8 the little minolta 135 f/3.5 is at least as sharp.

a sample:



100



you be the judge.
 

thomasl.se

New member
Leica-R 35/2 v2; 60/2.8, 80/1.4; 180/2.8 v2

I have been using these a week now on Novoflex adapter - NEX-5 and I'm happy with the whole bag. The 60 will usually stay home but at the cost/quality ratio I'm hanging on to it for the odd macro and the prospect of bolting it as my walkabout if and when I have a FF. I briefly had an 50/2-R, excellent of course and a real bargain but I'd still be choosing the 60 most of the time.

An 80 from today at f5.6. LR3 global adjustments only, then re-sized and output sharpened in PS.

 

philber

Member
21mm Contax G with Kipon adapter works well on the Nex giving it a equivalent fov of 32mm which is good for general photography. No smearing only color shifts when taking pictures of the sky (or light colored background) which can be fixed by corner fix and since it can batch process my photos i think it is ok.

I cut the little legs of these contax g lens (21mm & 28mm) which does nothing for photographs. I just have to put the lens upside down with their caps on. I've tried contax g lens 21mm, 28mm, 45mm and 90mm. I think all are great and they make a nice set on the Nex.
I bought a Contax G 21 for use on my NEX, but can't get rid of the colourshift, much as I tried. I must have made 25 attempts at generating a "good" cornerfix profile. If you would be willing to send me yours, I would be soooo grateful, because this lens is exceptional IMHO
Cheers
Philippe
 

philber

Member
Here is my list of "good and bad":

- lenses that work correctly, irrespective of performance are

Sony 18-55. Nothing wrong with the kit zoom. Does everything at least as well as can be expected for this sort of lens. Recommended
Sony 16mm f:2.8. I tried two copies, both of them so bad I chose the zoom even though I am a prime shooter. When I found them very soft even in the centre at f:8, I gave up. Though I know there are better copies out there, I am not the only to have be let down. Not recommended.
Sony 18-200. Very good lens for this sort of spec. I could live with this sort of performance, except that the bulk/weight are not my cup of tea for my use of the nEX. If I want something big, I pull my 5D II. But, if you can live with the format, recommended.
Zeiss ZM 35 f:2.8. Remarkable performance, especially for the money/size. Just needs slight PP to brig out all the detail, otherwise SOOC can look just a bit bland. Highly recommended.
Zeiss ZM 50mm f:2.0. Remakable performance. A really excellent lens. Can't be too highly recommended on the NEX
Contax C/Y 25mm f:2.8. Not so large as to dwarf the camera. No colourshift issues despite it being wide, as it is a DSLR lens. Very sharp SOOC. Colours a bit less rich and vibrant than I'd like. Recommended despite the caveats, because it is inexpensive, and there isn't much choice at that FL
Contax 35-70 f:3.4. A bit strange to mount that large zoom on this small cam, but works very well indeed, indeed in close-up (macro) mode. Very good sharpness, colours and contrast. It is now no longer as cheap as it was, but is still very good value. Recommended

- lenses that don't work correctly SOOC, irrespective of performance

Contax G21. A heartbreaker. A prodigious lens, by the looks of what I am getting, but heavy colourshift that I was unable to Cornerfix my way out of. So good that I can't bring myself to selling it despite the fact that I can't use it.
Contax G28. About as wide as can be in "workeable" rangefinder lenses for NEX. Mild colourshift that I can get rid of in Cornerfix. Performance is strong, but not as ttrong as the 21.
ZM 25. Another fabulous lens, but marred y colourshift that I couldn't fix. Cindy, how do you do it?
ZM 18. Another top Zeiss performer. And -you guessed it- colourshift
Leica 24 Elmarit f:3.8. Briliant lens, with fantastic colours. Except where it colourshifts, of course
 

Millsart

New member
I think some lens just can't be corrected with Corner Fix. Its a good tool, up to a point, but it can only do so much. It was just like using some 21mm wides on my Leica, the in camera correct helped a great deal, but it never made things perfect.

A 21mm RF lens combined with a camera that doesn't even have any offset microlenses is just a really tough combination to try to correct. Retrofocus style lenses will work well, but the RF type of wides just get tougher the wider they get.

I think corner fix can help, and maybe give you some usable results, but I don't think your doing anything wrong.. I think your just running into the maximum it can correct things.
 

pegelli

Well-known member
Got my Nex 5 on Friday.
Upgraded to firmware 4 and then extensive testing of my Leica M lenses.

Summaron 35/2.8
Wonderful little lens, tack sharp from wide open, infinity focus spot on:





Summicron 50/2 "close focus"
Slightly less contrast but very sharp full open, biting sharpness and contrast as of f2.8, infinity focus spot on, heavy:




Elmarit 90/2.8 (M39 with Leitz M39 -> M-mount adapter)
Low contrast (glow) and slightly less sharp full open, as of f4 tack sharp and good contrast, focusses slightly beyond infinity.




Elmar 90/4 (M39 with Leitz M39 -> M-mount adapter)
The joker (almost forgot I had this one). At f4 only slightly behind Elmarit 90/2.8 @ f4 but only very slightly, as of f5.6 as good as the Elmarit, infinity focus spot on, very light and small (but not good looking).




I'll start posting examples in the "Fun with Nex" thread

Now I only need advice for a WA, I have a Minolta A-mount 20/2.8, should I get a LA-EA1 adapter or are there better options?
 
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